High Altitude Frequencies?

[LTCSZ]

Hello: I live in the middle of the country ( Western Kansas) and would like to try my hand at monitoring some of the high altitude aviation frequencies as planes fly over my area (which is about all they do; We have a very small airport!) Where would I find a good listing of the frequencies that I need for my area that are current and reasonably active? I have seen lots of lists, but have heard virtually nothing on them...Thanks for your consideration!

Steve

 

[Weaksignal]

Have you tried any here?...

Kansas City (ZKC) Air Route Traffic Control Center Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

 

[autovon]

try
134.675
133.45
134.3
132.225
125.2
134.0
for starters. I just pulled them off the high IFR charts for your area.

 

[AI7PM]

What town are you in? I ask, because you may be close enough to Center remote sites for Denver or Kansas City to hear the controllers.

As far as airborne, you'll hear them talking to Albuquerque, Denver, Kansas City, and Minneapolis centers.

 

[LTCSZ]

Thanks for the responses...I am in Garden City, Kansas in the far Western part of the state...Hopefully Denver will come in great...Thanks...

Steve

 

[AI7PM]

Thanks for the responses...I am in Garden City, Kansas in the far Western part of the state...Hopefully Denver will come in great...Thanks...

Steve

Then you may hear Kansas CIty Center on 133.45 and 125.2. The radio site is East of Garden City, between Pierceville and Ingalls.

 

[LTCSZ]

K5BBC: Thanks for the info...Should I be able to hear both sides of the communication? (Can you tell that I'm new at this?) Thanks again,

Steve KA1OWC

 

[AirScan]

LTCSZ,

would like to try my hand at monitoring some of the high altitude aviation frequencies as planes fly over my area

I've attached a chart below that shows the ARTCC high altitude sector boundaries and frequencies centered around Garden City, KS. This is something I put together myself from various references and was up to date as of around 12 months ago.

Some notes on the chart ....

For reference there is a 200 nautical mile range ring (in red) centered on Garden City (GCK).

ZKC22, 133.450, 370B would be decoded as follows ....

Kansas City ARTCC (ZKC) Sector 22, frequency 133.450, altitude FL370 and below

To make things more complicated they can use different sector configurations depending on the time of day and traffic volume. I've tried to show this on the chart.

An asterisk (*) beside the frequency indicates it is a secondary frequency used when required. For example ZKC20, 134.30, is used when required otherwise the sector is combined with the adjacent sector ZKC06 and 133.200 is used.

An asterisk in a circle on a sector boundary indicates the sectors are combined as required. For example ZKC21 and ZKC07, both extending from FL380 and above, are combined when traffic is light, when they are combined 120.725 is the frequency used.

The floor of high altitude airspace in the USA generally starts at 24,000 feet (FL240). There are exceptions though, in ZDV (Denver) the floor is FL270 and ZAB (Albuquerque) the floor on some sectors is FL290. If the floor is not at FL240 then the actually altitude is shown on the chart. For example ZDV28, Denver Sector 28, 134.125, extends from FL270 to FL330. All Kansas City high sectors start at FL240.

You should be able to hear the Kansas City controller on 133.450 (high altitude) and 125.200 (low altitude).

The low altitude sector, ZKC68, that you can hear the controller on 125.20 is quite large, in addition to 125.20 they use 5 other frequencies for coverage in this sector. In case you wondering why you are not hearing the aircraft, the other frequencies used in this sector are 118.80, 124.40, 134.00, 118.35, 126.95.

The easiest way to confirm frequencies and sector configuration is to follow flights and note the frequency they are handed off to.

If you happen to note any frequencies or configurations that are different then what I have depicted on the chart can you please let me know so I can update it. I'd be happy to answer any more questions if you have any.

AS

 

[N9JCQ]

Airscan, what did you use to assemble that chart?

 

[AirScan]

N9JCQ,

what did you use to assemble that chart?

Do you mean literally how I assembled it ? I just use a basic version of Microsoft Paint.

As far as the info. mostly confirmed from personal monitoring (I travel a lot) or using various internet sources (Broadcastify, LiveATC, etc.).

Reports posted to the forum here from others interested in this stuff always helpful too.

AS

 

[LTCSZ]

Thanks

Airscan: Thanks for all of the great info...And for taking the time to assemble the chart...Makes more sense now...Got a few days off coming up so I am going to put up my outside antenna and see what I can hear! Thanks again,

Steve, KA1OWC

 

[AirScan]

Steve,

Thanks for all of the great info...And for taking the time to assemble the chart...Makes more sense now...Got a few days off coming up so I am going to put up my outside antenna and see what I can hear!

No problem. I'm fairly confident on the accuracy of the frequencies as a few adjacent sectors are covered on LiveATC. But if you happen to notice anything different can you let me know so I can update it.

I'm curious if you can hear the controller on 133.450 and how often they use 132.825 ? (I've also heard them use 135.550 in that sector, might be a spare ?).

On the overnight shift they seem to use 133.450 to cover that whole area, sectors ZKC06/07/20/21/23. As traffic builds they start splitting it up so that 133.200 covers ZKC06 and ZKC20, 120.725 covers ZKC21 and ZKC07. I'm not sure about 133.450 but suspect it combines with ZKC23 ? Then at max capacity the sectors are all split separately as depicted on the chart.

Any updates or comments appreciated.

AS

 

[LTCSZ]

Airscan: I will try to monitor the freqs you mention and let you know...Thanks again for all of the help...

Steve

 

[LTCSZ]

Airscan: I cannot hear the controller from KC Center on 133.450...Very strong reception of aircraft...Lots of traffic...

Steve

 

[Eugene]

LTCSZ: Unless the RCAG (remote radio site) is near you...you probably wont except on rare days with good radio propagation. The formula for radio horizon is 4/3 the square root of the height of the antenna. So you con do the math with an antenna 60 feet up vs. an aircraft 30,00 feet up. Have fun monitoring.

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[AirScan]

Steve,

I cannot hear the controller from KC Center on 133.450

Too bad you can't hear the controller.

I took a closer look and I see that the RCAG antenna towers are about 15 nautical miles southeast of the town (Garden City). You can see them on Google Earth at N37 53 09 W100 34 20.

Reception of these ARTCC RCAG's antennas over the ground is generally not very good (given equal elevations), usually you have to be within inside of about 10 miles of the antennas to hear the controllers.

The airport is closer at 7 nautical miles from town, can you hear the automated weather (ASOS) on 121.325 ?

If it's not too much trouble, can you let me know if you hear 132.825 in use, this is the ultra high sector ZKC07 (FL380 and above) in the eastern part of the area ? Usually 120.725 is used for both areas but I'm just curious how often they split it and turn on 132.825 ?

AS